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| VOLUME 7 | ISSUE 5
A Publication of Local Umbrella Media
Stu Hedley, 98, United States Navy Born and bred in San Diego?
I was born in West Palm Beach, Florida in 1921. Where were you on Pearl Harbor Day?
I was aboard the USS West Virginia, berthed in Pearl Harbor, and was the coxswain on deck and the gunner during General Quarters, which is the call to defend the ship. I was on the top deck at the time of the attack. How old were you at the time?
A 20-year old brat that grew up on a day in December. Was your ship hit during the attack?
We had 9 torpedos hit the ship along with two armored piercing shells unleashed from the Japanese aircraft, together with blistering fire from their machine guns.
rounds against us, which were 14-inch shells. We had 27 fires burning at one time. One of the shells went directly through the Bridge and instantly killed the Admiral and his staff. I was amazed that the ship managed to stay afloat. Was the attack at Guadalcanal as fierce as the attack at Pearl Harbor?
Guadacanal was worse because we had so many ships sunk at Guadacanal. As long as the flag can fly from any part of the ship, the ship is not considered sunk. Even the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor flies its flag from the stern and is not considered as being a sunken vessel. On what occasion did you have your greatest fear?
To some this may sound unbelievable, however, I never did have a fear, since my thoughts were Did any of the aircraft come close to your that if I got killed, I would be in the hands of the lord, so there was no battle station? Many did, coming right at us and I could see fear. There was a time during an attack in the Pacific when a Japanese plane was the pilots in their aircraft who seemed to be heading directly for our ship, on one of laughing at the time. their Kamikaze suicide missions. I was on deck watching it heading straight at Did you have to abandon ship? us, and missing us and into the water by We did, since we had taken direct hits. We only a few yards, yet it never struck me as a were alongside another ship that was berthed fearful experience. aside the dock and some tried to go across on lines, but they were instantly killed by the gun fire from attacking planes. We crawled over the Where were you when the war ended? We had taken the USS San Francisco back gun turrets, and then jumped into the water to the States for repair and I transferred to as deep down as we could manage. The oil fires on the water were everywhere and twice I the USS Massey to return to do picket duty, came up for a breath and it was scorching hot. keeping the Japanese from approaching the island of Okinawa, which we had by then We made it to shore and over to the hospital. taken from the Japanese. Upon the end of the I told my shipmate that if we made it through war, we were assigned duty in Japan until our that, we would make it through anything. return home in December of 1945. Were you reassigned to another ship?
I was assigned to the USS San Francisco and we fought thirteen major engagements in the Pacific. The last one was at Guadalcanal, and we got pulverized. The USS San Francisco was a heavy cruiser in support of the carrier fleet. The Japanese used their ship to shore heavy
Has Honor Flight San Diego made a difference in your life?
Very much so and the trip to Washington, D.C. was meaningful in so many ways. The monuments were impressive and having lived there previously, it was great to be reunited once again. What message to those who take freedom for granted?
Do you consider yourself a hero?
Certainly not. The true heroes are the ones who died fighting on the shores and in the jungle, on the ships and in the air. They made the ultimate sacrifice and deserve our utmost and everlasting respect.
I visit the schools a lot and try to communicate the importance of what the men and women did to preserve our nation and ultimately their freedoms. I also try to encourage them to set goals and to follow those goals, and to say that even in these times we need to remain vigilant. Hopefully, it makes an impression on some if not all.
These articles first appeared in Discover Magazines www.discovermagazines.com
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